Pest Control Links Round-Up: 5 For Friday

Atlanta Millipede Infestations Common

So what exactly are millipedes? Are they dangerous? Are they even considered pests? How do you get rid of them? Here’s what you need to know. More…

5 Fun Facts About Ants

Think you know all there is to know about ants? Think again! Here’s a comical view, with some amazing ant facts. Who knew ants are feminists? More…

How German Cockroaches Easily Infest Homes – And Effective Techniques To Stop Them

German cockroaches are considered one of the most challenging pest infestations to eliminate – even with professional treatment. Learn how to implement a successful prevention strategy, here.

CAUTION: Stinging and Venomous Caterpillars

The four major stinging caterpillars occurring in Florida are the puss caterpillar, saddleback caterpillar, Io moth caterpillar and hag caterpillar. These caterpillars have tiny hairs or spines that release a toxin. Contact may require hospitalization. More…

Carpenter Ants: Preventing Them Before They Become a Problem

Our pest of the week, the Carpenter ant can be quite the destructive pest. There are a few steps you can take before they become a serious problem. More…

Pest Of The Week: The Carpenter Ant

The Carpenter ant (Camponotus vicinus) makes it’s nest inside wood; dead trees or stumps, wood piles, rotten home structures, and old cracking furniture to be exact. It because of this, many home owners confuse the Carpenter ant for the termite.

Carpenter ants have black bodies, with a dark red thorax. Their abdomen is covered with a fine hair that forms a ring around the ant. They measure in length somewhere between ¼ of an inch to ½ of an inch. Note, Carpenter ants do not eat wood. They do eat food debris, like crumbs and sweets. It’s this food that foraging ants are looking for when they enter your home.

If you see sawdust piles around your home or property, you may have Carpenter ants. If this is the case, seek the services of a licensed ant control professional.

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Anthony Ball

Your Pest Control Links For The Week

Ridding Your Pantry of Pests

If you’ve ever poured yourself a bowl of cereal in the morning; and found beetles, weevils or other pantry pests crawling around in your Cheerios; you know it can be quite a disturbing experience. Here’s some advice on getting rid of the uninvited guests. More…

Millipede Menace

This article offers some good advice on preventing millipedes. These pests smell awful, are dirty, leave stains, and can even disrupt electrical equipment. More…

Difference Between Waterbugs and Cockroach Infestations

For some insight on cockroaches and waterbugs, including what they look like, where they live, what they eat, and how to get rid of them, click here.

Proper Identification is the Key to Controlling Ants Populations in Louisiana

Louisiana has some 131 different species of ant, including the Raspberry Crazy ant. The key to controlling these ants is identifying the species. Different species of ant require different types of treatment form a pest control professional. More…

Pesticides Over the Years

Pesticides have evolved over the years. To read more about this evolution, click here.

There is a Wasp’s Nest Outside My Door! Now What?

If you ever have the misfortune of having a wasp or hornet nest in or around your home, take these steps before you get stung. More…

Pest Of The Week: Argentine Ant

Linepithema humilis, Argentine ant (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Routinely found underneath the moist areas of your property, Argentine ants build their nests under rocks and other debris. They can also build nests inside your home, as they enter looking for their favorite sweets. Argentine ants are located in the Southeast U.S., Washington, Oregon, and California.

Argentine ants are a grayish-brown in color, and are approximately 1/8 inch long. Colonies can have multiple queens, and tens of thousands of worker ants, as different colonies join forces. These ants are notorious for driving out other ant species.

Argentine ants love anything sugary and sweet. These ant pests will commonly eat the nectar that plant aphids provide for them In exchange; Argentine ants will protect the aphids from other predators.

One of the most effective pest control approaches to exterminating the Argentine worker ants and queens is to actively bait this pest with poison; concealed in sugar. Once the Argentine ants have returned the bait to the nest, the remaining colony will soon die off.

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Anthony Ball

World Record Millipede

The leggiest creature in the World can be found in California, but it’s not a runway model or a movie starlet.

The world’s leggiest creature happens to be a millipede, which sets a world record with its 750 legs.

Photograph by Paul Marek

The Elusive White Millipede (lllacme plenipes)

The word millipede literally translates to 1000 feet, but no millipede really has 1000 feet. The closest to reach the 1000 foot mark happens to be the lllacme plenipes millipede; which sets a world record with its 750 limbs. Most other species of millipede have between 80 and 100 legs. It’s name, lllacme plenipes, means “the acme of plentiful legs”

The lllacme plenipes millipede was first discovered in 1928 by scientists. It was thought to be extinct for much of the last century until Paul Marek, a University of Arizona entomologist, recently caught one in Silicon Valley, CA that happened to be a world record.

The elusive millipedes have only ever been found in a patch of grassy oak woodlands spanning about 1.7 square miles near Oakland and Berkeley, California. They measure a mere 3 centimeters in length, and look like a white piece of thread.

Photograph by Paul Marek

More Than Just a Great Set of Legs

The female lllacme plenipes millipedes have up to 750 legs, and males have more than 550. Besides it’s many legs, there are several other things that make this millipede unique. They include:

• Very rare- Only 17 ever caught
• A fused mouth has no known function
• Hairs on it’s back produce silk
• Sexually dimorphic
• Legs have claws for burrowing deep underground
• Needs moist fog to survive in the wild
• Cannot be cultured laboratories, needing an unknown food source not avaliable in labs

Threatened Insect

The lllacme plenipes millipede is one of the many threatened insects in the world. Scientists say the millipede’s existence is being threatened as human development infringes on the small region in Northern California where the millipede is found. Climate change is also playing a large factor in the extinction of the millipede, vaporizing the fog that keeps it’s habitat moist.

It would be a shame for this rare and peculiar species to disappear completely before we can learn more about it.

Photograph by Paul Marek

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Anthony Ball